Players look up to Pele
EXPERIENCE OF EX-EEL HAS CURRUMBIN EAGLES FLYING HIGH
PELE Peletelese is the 33year-old front-rower who has emerged from retirement to be a central figure in Currumbin’s resurgence in the Rugby League Gold Coast scene.
A rival coach hailed the one-time Parramatta NRL player as the local competition’s premier prop, without whom the Eagles might not be soaring quite as high as their 9-2 win-loss record.
Currumbin mentor Ryan Gundry agreed Peletelese has been “fantastic”, both in his performances on the field and as a role model to the club’s rising talent.
“Just the influence that he has on the younger guys in the team is really good and that’s part of the reason why we identified him and thought he could be a leader for us,” Gundry said.
“The young guys all need to learn from somebody and they get sick of hearing my voice and Martin’s (Griese, assistant coach) voice.
“It’s good for them to have a bit of input from someone who has played at a really high level.”
A father of two, Peletelese hung up the boots at the end of 2015 to spend more time with his family but after finding OzTag wasn’t for him, he jumped at the chance to give back to the sport of rugby league that he says has given him so much.
The family vibe and underdog status of a smaller club like the Eagles appealed to him, as did the chance to steer the next generation of players in the right direction.
“I’ve been playing footy for a fair while now and you just sort of get that mentality of professionalism,” said the building estimator, who has already crossed for four tries this year.
“That is what I try to put into these young boys’ minds, everything you do you have just got to take pride in, and just help them not with words but with actions in the way I play. If they see me playing my heart out, the older guy that is still rocking up to training and still keeping up with them, hopefully it inspires them.”
The RLGC competition takes a full break this weekend before resuming the following weekend, when Currumbin will face Tweed.